The recent weather caused havoc for guests staying at four camps in Kruger National Park; thankfully kindness helped them all get to safety over the weekend.
Kruger National Park, South Africa (13 February 2023) – The recent extreme weather warnings turned out to be true and most parts of Mpumalanga faced heavy rains towards the end of last week. Kruger National Park’s famous South side of the park faced the worst of it as all the rivers and low-lying bridges flooded.
The entire south of the park was brought to a standstill and four of the major camps were completely isolated from the rest of the park.
The trouble isn’t over just yet though, the week is set to have more rain and already high rivers are at risk of rising further. SANParks released a statement about the expected rains for the coming week, sharing that heavy rains were expected until the 17th of February.
Tarred roads in the South of the park are all open except Lower Sabie and Skukuza. Majority of gravel roads are open but visitors should be cautious and not remove No Entry Barricades (including branches of trees). A lot of work still needs to be done until all roads can be fully open and operational.
Crocodile Bridge situation remains unchanged since yesterday afternoon. The Bridge is still flooded, heavy rain fell overnight. All dirt roads remain closed.
The Disaster Management Team will advise as the day goes, especially since more rain is anticipated for the dates 13-15 February.”
The people who were stuck at the camps needed a way to get back out to safety. Before the evacuation took place, supplies were delivered on the 10th of February, to help keep everyone fed for the days that they waited to leave.
Thankfully over the weekend, an evacuation plan was launched and everyone stuck at the Lower Sabie Rest Camp convoyed out of the area using the more accessible dirt roads on the 11th of February. The convoy was at least 50 cars strong and those with 4×4 cars helped tow and support all the cars not suited for the trek.
The entire convoy drove for 70km, which took about 6 hours to complete. The cars headed towards Skukuza where they could then safely head out of the park using either the Phabeni or Paul Kruger gates. Tina Krug was part of the convoy and shared some of the images, take a look below.
It was with great kindness and determination that every guest made it safely to high ground.
Photo Credit: Tina Krug
Photo Credit: Tina Krug
Photo Credit: Tina Krug
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